News 4 hires Jennifer Broome replacement out of Miami

News 4 WOAI has hired a new chief meteorologist to replace the departing Jennifer Broome.

He’s John Gerard out of Miami’s NBC station. The silvery blonde meteorologist will debut as 5, 6 and 10 p.m. weathercaster May 10. Broome’s last day on the air is May 7, WOAI general manager Jackie Rutledge confirmed.

Replacing Broome after 10 years at WOAI, Rutledge said, is part of the “different direction” WOAI is going in. “Our ratings aren’t what we want them to be,” Rutledge said of News 4′s long-term third-place evening news status. “So, we need to make some changes.”

“Weather is very important in San Antonio,” Rutledge said, adding she hoped someone as seasoned and experienced as Gerard will bring in more viewers to WOAI.

She described Gerard, who handles weekend weather on Miami’s WTVJ, as in his early 50s, and “very personable and knowledgeable.”

He also has spent time teaching a course in broadcast meteorology at the University of Miami.

Prior to joining WTVJ, the outdoorsy Gerard, seen here in a weather promo, was the morning and noon meteorologist for Miami’s ABC affiliate. According to his WTVJ bio, he began his TV weather career in 1980 as chief meteorologist for ABC’s WTVW in Evansville, Ind. He has also been the weathercaster for the ABC and NBC affiliates in Knoxville, Tenn. and Cincinnati, Ohio.

In his bio, he’s described as the most experienced meteorologist in South Florida and was on the air live as the 1997 tornado struck Miami and Miami Beach. His efforts that day have been documented in a special produced by the Discovery Channel.